The American Abolition of Slavery

Overview

• Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on January 31, 1865.

• The Amendment formally abolished all forms of slavery and indentured servitude in the United States.

The Fight for Abolition

Ideological Roots

The fight for abolition, or freeing people from slavery, began as primarily a morally-driven movement, where people believed that everyone was equal in the eyes of God. Therefore, it was ideologically wrong for one group to be enslaved by another in dehumanizing ways. From its religious roots, abolitionism grew into the 1800s, especially with the formation of anti-slavery societies such as the American Anti-Slavery Society. Religious movements such as the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century further accelerated this trend of emphasizing abolition as a part of a more progressive society.

The Colonization Movement

The colonization movement was an early subset of the abolition movement, and it pushed for freeing enslaved people and sending them back to Africa. Anti-slavery advocates viewed the movement as a compromise of sorts: they believed that America's white society would never truly accept racial equality and that this was the best solution. The American Colonization Society, founded in 1817, set up a colony in present-day Liberia for this purpose and had returned nearly 12,000 enslaved people to Africa by 1860.

Southern slaveholders (who were opposed to freeing their slaves) strongly opposed the movement. However, many abolitionists also opposed the movement because they believed it was unjust to remove Black people born in America from the place they were born.

Pre-Civil War

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, polarization rapidly grew on both sides of the slavery vs. abolition debate, as it quickly became a regional divide between the Northern states and Southern states. Events such as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Dred Scott Decision in 1857, to name a few, significantly increased tensions on both sides as the country quickly neared the Civil War.

While many abolitionists did believe that slavery was morally wrong, a vast majority of Northerners were also only indifferent to the belief because their manufacturing-based economy wasn't dependent on the presence of enslaved people to keep it afloat. In the same way, many Southerners opposed abolition because it would single-handedly tank the economy of many Southern states. They believed enslaved people were necessary to keep up productivity on the cotton plantations that made up a majority of exports in agricultural states such as Georgia and the Carolinas.

Emancipation Proclamation

In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which effectively declared all enslaved persons living in states not under Union control free. It didn't free all enslaved people in the United States, but what it did do was allow Black soldiers to fight for the Union, which tied the issue of slavery even more directly to the Civil War. Lincoln recognized that a Constitutional amendment would be necessary to abolish slavery throughout the United States entirely.

Note: Lincoln physically didn’t have the ability as president to end all slavery within the United States-- that would involve changing the Constitution, which is beyond his scope of power.

The Reconstruction Amendments

The 13th Amendment was passed by the Senate right after the Civil War, even before the Southern states had been restored to the Union; however, the House was reluctant. It took greater efforts by Lincoln, and even adding the Amendment to the Republican party platform for the 1864 presidential election to get it fully passed by Congress.

Along with the 14th & 15th Amendments, the 13th Amendment finally brought an end (on paper at least, notwithstanding the Jim Crow era that followed) to the oppression of Black people in America through slavery and helped expand civil rights.

Many historians argue that people did not completely recognize the efforts of the abolitionist movement until the passing of the 15th Amendment, which extended suffrage to all (now freed from slavery) Black men, and officially recognized them as citizens.

Famous Abolitionists

William Lloyd Garrison

Garrison was a famous abolitionist and journalist whose main contribution to the abolitionist campaign was publishing a newspaper, The Liberator. He soon gained recognition as one of the most radical anti-slavery advocates due to his views. In 1832 he founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society, which was the first organization to call for immediate emancipation, and in 1833 he helped organize the American Anti-Slavery Society, writing its Declaration of Sentiments and serving as its first corresponding secretary.

Frederick Douglass

After Douglass escaped from slavery to the North, he met William Lloyd Garrison, who encouraged him to share his story and lead the abolitionist movement. The most famous of his works is his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. He also published the North Star, his abolitionist newsletter, and spoke out for women's rights: he was the only Black person to attend the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Stowe rose to fame in 1851 by publishing her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which highlighted the evils of slavery. She was inspired to write it after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and saw her work as a call for other Northerners to defy the Act.

Susan B. Anthony

Anthony was a Quaker and believed that every human was equal in the eyes of God. This belief underscored her fight for women's suffrage and abolition and other progressive reform. In 1856, she served as an American Anti-Slavery Society agent, helping draw attention to the abolitionist cause. During the Civil War, Anthony, alongside Elizabeth Cady Stanton, helped organize the Woman's Loyal League to gather petitions calling to abolish slavery.

Harriet Tubman

Tubman was an escaped slave who helped others to freedom through the Underground Railroad and was known as the "Moses of her people." During the Civil War, she also served as a spy, guerilla soldier, and nurse for the Union Army.

Sojourner Truth

Also a former slave, she was an outspoken advocate for abolition and women's rights in the 1800s, as Garrison's anti-slavery work encouraged her to give speeches about the evils of slavery. Her autobiography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, brought her national recognition, as well as her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, where she challenged notions of racial and gender inequality. When the Civil War started, Truth urged young men to join the Union Army and helped organize supplies for Black troops.

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Opposition to Abolition

Women & Abolitionism

Despite their support of the abolition movement in general, many people were opposed to women taking a leading role. At the time, a woman's accepted role was still heavily limited to the domestic sphere. However, many women continued to fight for abolition due to their beliefs that everyone deserves equality on racial lines. 

The fight for women's rights picked up steam after the Reconstruction Amendments were passed, as many women turned their focus away from racial integration.

States’ Rights

Many people were afraid of federal overreach and the loss of state sovereignty on the issue of slavery. The central states' rights issue, especially leading up to the Civil War, concerned the rights of free states and territories to keep slavery out of their borders. The federal government passed many laws to protect the interests of slave states, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.